Obama must confront al-Maliki over meddling in Syria
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Iraqi
government has offered both direct and indirect support for the Assad regime
Washington DC 10/28/2013—The Coalition for a
Democratic Syria (CDS) calls on President Obama to confront Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki over his support for the Assad regime when Prime
Minister Maliki visits the White House on Friday, November 1. Prime Minister
Maliki’s government in Baghdad has offered both direct and indirect support for
the Assad regime’s war against the Syrian people.
The CDS calls on President Obama to use all of America’s
diplomatic and economic leverage to force the Iraqi government to stop its
support for the criminal Assad regime and its Iranian sponsor. The scheduled
meeting is intended to focus on a US-Iraq Strategic Framework agreement
that will govern relations between the two countries, as well as “regional
issues.”
Syrian American activists will join other pro-democracy
activists to protest
Prime Minister Maliki’s White House visit. CDS calls on all supporters of
freedom and democracy to join with these activists to make sure the President
and Mr. Maliki hear their message.
Iraq has a well-documented history of permitting Iranian
arms shipments bound for Syria to pass through its airspace, as well as other
collusion with the Islamic Republic. In recent months, the Baghdad government
has tacitly permitted
sectarian brigades to be recruited and trained in Iraq, for eventual combat
deployment in Syria.
Continuing this increasing involvement in Syria on the side
of the Assad regime and Iran, Iraqi army troops recently clashed with Free
Syrian Army brigades at the al-Yarubiya border crossing. In its statement
on the issue, the Syrian Coalition called the Iraqi government’s attack on FSA
forces “a considerable mistake and a blatant and unprecedented interference in
Syrian affairs.”
“President Obama and the international community must make
it clear to Prime Minister Maliki that he cannot continue to meddle in Syria’s
internal affairs. He must further insist that Mr. Maliki order all Iraqi
militias withdrawn from Syria, take steps to prevent future militia deployments
to Syria, and stop allowing Iranian resupply planes from flying through Iraqi
airspace,” said Mohammed Alaa Ghanem Director of Government Relations for the
Syrian American Council. “While the international community may hesitate to
take more assertive action, using diplomatic and economic leverage on Iraq
seems to be an obvious step to take to undermine the Assad regime.”
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